Millenium Ghosts
by Kiwi Smoothy
Summary: Chapter 2 up! Bakura and Michelle have a snowball fight...
1. When we meet the characters and do stuff

Ok, my first story! This originally started as something purely to satisfy my muse. It was going to be just a little thing about what would happen if Bakura tagged along on one of my normal days. Later, though, it evolved into something else. The only reason I kept my name in there is that it was already there and I'm too lazy to change it. This person is NOT me. Remember that. The point of view will change, but I'll be sure to warn you. And, no, this is NOT a name column story.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! If I did, you would probably be watching this in the form of a cartoon on your television. Neither do I own any other brand name I may inadvertently put in here.  
  
Bakura: On with the story!  
  
Hey, that's my job! On with the story!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
~Michelle's POV~  
  
//Where are we going?// Bakura asked through our mind-link as my family and I got into the car.  
/To the hospital to get a shot./ I answered.  
//WHAT THE HELL?!? Why are we going to go get shot??//  
Thoroughly exasperated, I replied, /No no no, we're not going to get shot! Were going to go get a shot./  
Sounding a bit embarrassed, Bakura asked, //Oh, well what's a shot then?//  
I was kind of surprised. /You honestly don't know?/ I asked him.  
//Yes, I just enjoy hearing your boring lectures,// he replied sarcastically.  
'Oh, so you want to be rude?' I thought to myself, 'Alright, I'll make this gruesome.' Nearly snickering (but not because my family would wonder about me) I began my explanation. /A shot is something you get at the hospital. First, the doctor, or um, healer I guess you would say, takes a long, round, plastic tube with a hollow needle attached to it and puts medicine in it. You do know what a needle is don't you?/ I asked.  
//Of course I know what a needle is!// Bakura seemed almost interested, despite his indignance.  
/Ok. Then they _stab_ you in the arm with the needle and force the medicine into your living flesh./ I finished, making sure place the emphasis on 'stab'.  
//Ah.I see.// he replied. //What is the point of this?//  
/It's to prevent illness/  
//Why can't you just take the medicine by mouth like normal people??//  
/Everyone gets shots Bakura. I guess they just work better than normal medicine. I can look up the reason on the internet later if you like./ I was brought even closer to laughter by Bakura's reaction.  
//No thank you! I've had enough 'learning' for one day. I just think this is stupid.//  
'I could swear he sounds nervous.' I thought, 'Well, only one way to find out.' And with that I asked, /You're not scared are you?/  
//WHAT??// Bakura sounded like he was going to explode. //I'm NOT scared!//  
The car having stopped, I smiled absently as I stepped out into the cool morning air while listening to Bakura's string of threats, curses, and general profanity. 'He's definitely scared.'  
  
~Bakura's POV, earlier that morning~  
  
'Ugh. Why the hell are we getting up so early?? I knew staying with this girl was a bad idea. I guess I'll have to ask her.' //Why are you getting up so early?//  
/./ no answer.  
//Hello? Can you hear me?// I tried again. 'Hmm, maybe the mind-link only works with Ryou?'  
/What do you want?/  
//Oh there you are, I thought you couldn't hear me. Why did you get up? The alarm didn't go off.//  
/I always get up at 6:00, alarm or not. Seeing as I just woke up, though, I'm not exactly in the mood to talk, so SHUT UP!/  
'Wow, she's not a morning person is she?' I grudgingly went silent, Michelle's shout still ringing in my head. 'Well, she never said I couldn't watch her.' With that thought I appeared next to Michelle in spirit form.  
She seemed to take no notice so I decided to do some exploring. The kitchen was fairly ordinary. 'Not much to see here. I wonder what else is in this house?' After looking for a while and finding nothing interesting, I decided to go snoop around my substitute hikari's room.  
Just as I reached to turn on the light I heard someone say something behind me. More specifically, I heard someone threaten me.  
"If you turn on that light I swear you won't live long enough to see it light up," Michelle said, voice dripping with venom.  
"um.?" was all I could think of saying.  
"I like it to be dark in the morning. In fact, I like it to be dark all day, so don't turn on any lights if you can help it," she replied.  
"Oh." 'Ryou left me with a nut! How could he do this to me?' It was then that I noticed she was carrying her breakfast. She walked past me (well, through me actually, since I was still in spirit form) and sat at her desk, beginning to eat.  
"Um?" I asked again. I really need to work on my vocabulary.  
"Like I said, I prefer it to be dark. If I eat in the kitchen someone will come in and turn on the lights."  
"I see." I was getting bored so I decided to go back to looking around. Since no one else was awake yet I figured it was safe to become solid. Now I was able to pick stuff up.  
Her room was small, the smallest I'd seen so far besides the bathroom. It was rather messy. There were some dirty clothes at the end of the unmade bed, and there were books and papers everywhere. There had even been a stack of papers on the chair before Michelle had relocated it to the floor so she could sit down.  
Most of the papers seemed to be notes and pieces of stories she had written. Most of them really didn't make much sense, though some were rather interesting. One that I found appeared to be describing a satanic altar. It was very.graphic. Definitely not something I would have expected from her.  
The books in her room were very diverse. I found everything from medical text books, to fairy tales, to yoga (whatever that is.). Then I noticed a leather-bound book without a title sitting on the table by her bed. Thinking Michelle was still ignoring me I moved to pick it up.  
"Don't touch that," she said.  
"And why not?" I asked, my curiosity ignited.  
"Because that's my journal and what's in it is none of your business," she replied carefully.  
"Hm," was my only response. She would have to leave the room sometime, then the journal would be all mine!  
"I have to go take a shower. If you get bored please don't break anything. I'll try to be as quick as I can."  
"What has Ryou been telling you? I'll be fine," I assured her.  
".alright." She looked suspicious, but left anyway.  
'Ha! Foolish mortal! I can't believe you would leave me alone right after telling me not to touch the journal!' I was thinking as my hand reached for the forbidden book.  
/DON'T TOUCH THE JOURNAL!!/ she shouted through the mind-link, making me jump about a foot in the air.  
Noticing she hadn't actually seen me I replied //Fine!// and grabbed it anyway. Realizing that I was still alive after about a minute I opened the little book greedily.  
A couple of seconds of leafing rewarded me with what I was looking for. Yesterday's entry:  
  
December 12, 2003  
  
Ryou is going to visit his father for the holidays and has decided to leave poor Bakura behind. I guess I can see why, but I still don't fully understand his decision. He was going to leave his yami in the ring on a table the whole time, but I volunteered to let Bakura stay with me. I think he's mad at Bakura for some reason because this isn't like him at all. I made sure to get Ryou's new address before he left, in case he wanted me to send him the ring. Thankfully he gave it to me without asking what it was for.  
I'm kind of nervous about letting Bakura stay with me. Ryou says he can be a little violent at times. I know I could handle him under normal circumstances, but recently I haven't been feeling very well. Yet another reason I shouldn't have offered to keep an eye on Bakura. Sigh. I just couldn't stand the thought of him being left alone for so long. Poor Bakura.  
  
Michelle  
  
'Poor Bakura? What the..?' I decided to look for my name in other places. After more leafing.  
  
May 27, 2003  
  
Well, what a surprise. Ryou has a yami. It's not fair! First Yugi gets a yami that ends up being the best friend a person could ever have and I can only watch because I am not welcome in their group. Then, when I finally become friends with Ryou he gets a yami.  
He says the yami's name is Bakura. When I asked to meet him Ryou looks nervous but agrees. After school I find out why he was nervous. Bakura is a world-class jerk. I think he has the potential to be a better person though. I'll have to keep an eye on him.  
  
Michelle  
  
'A jerk?! And what does she mean by "keep an eye on him."?' I was about to read more when I heard the shower turn off. I would have to investigate further later.  
  
~Michelle's POV, present time (back at the Hospital)~  
  
As I walked through the hospital Bakura asked several questions. What's this? What's that? Where does that hallway go? What does that do? Etcetera etcetera.  
When he stopped in front of the elevator he was silent for a moment, then //Why are you just standing there?//  
/We're waiting for the elevator,/ I answered. This was going to be fun.  
//What's an elevator? And why do we have to wait for it?//  
/You'll see./ I could barely hold in my grin of anticipation as the doors opened.  
//It's just a little room?// he sounded very confused.  
I stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button without saying a word, afraid I'd burst out laughing and ruin the surprise.  
The elevator began to move, and just as I had expected, //What in the name of Ra?!?//  
/Don't worry, it's supposed to do that./ I stated calmly.  
//What the hell just happened?//  
/Well, we're in a kind of little box that moves between floors. It's faster than taking the stairs./  
//.oh,// he said as he absorbed this new information. //You could have warned me you know.//  
/Ah, but if I warned you your reaction wouldn't have been half as funny!/ I told him.  
When it came time to get the shot I could feel Bakura watching through my eyes.  
//You're actually going to let that guy stab you with a needle?// he asked, sounding incredulous.  
/I promise it won't hurt that much. It's only a flu shot./  
//I'm not worried about the pain,// he lied, //I just wouldn't trust him to do it right.//  
/Don't worry, he went to a special school to learn how to do this right./  
//You can go to school to learn how to stab people with needles?//  
/Er, something like that./ I decided against telling him about surgeons. He sounded too excited about the needle thing already.  
As promised, the shot barely hurt at all. I could tell Bakura felt like an idiot for being nervous so I made sure not to rub it in. Oh well, just a little wouldn't hurt!  
/There now, that wasn't so bad!/ I said in a mockingly sweet voice.  
//Shut up,// was his response.  
/Oh you're just cranky because you didn't get a sticker!/  
Bakura just remained in sulking silence.  
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, with Bakura mostly staying quiet. That is, until it came time to go to sleep.  
"I am not going to sleep in the ring again!" Bakura shouted. He had become extremely upset when I told him I didn't have anywhere for him to sleep. At least, not anywhere where he wouldn't be seen.  
"Shh! Shut up or someone will hear you!" I tried desperately to keep him quiet. "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."  
"Why don't you sleep in the ring and I sleep out here?" he growled, at least remembering to keep his voice down this time.  
"I've never been in my soul room! I don't think I could get in there if I wanted to. Besides, what if someone walks by my room and sees you? How am I supposed to explain that? I don't even want to think about that awkward silence!"  
Finally, Bakura saw my point. "Fine, but I'm NOT going to sleep in the ring the whole time I'm here." With that last comment a very cranky Bakura retreated to the millennium ring.  
He was right, I would have to come up with some sort of sleeping arrangement eventually. 'Maybe I should start sleeping with the door closed, then he could sleep on the floor. Oh well, I'll come up with something tomorrow.' I then changed into my usual sleeping outfit and got into bed. For some reason I was more tired than usual (probably Bakura's fault) and had no trouble falling asleep.  
  
~Bakura's POV~  
  
'I can't believe I have to sleep in the ring! Oh well, I guess it's better than being alone for months while Ryou is off visiting his father. Why did he leave me behind anyway?' suddenly a wave of emotion interrupted my thoughts. It seemed like.confusion? Yes, definitely confusion.  
'Great, I got stuck with a dreamer.' Whenever had a dream I would experience the emotions whether the mind-link was closed or not. 'If Michelle dreams all the time I'll never get any sleep!'  
Curious, I came out of the ring to see what was happening. She was curled in a ball up in the corner of her bed that was by the wall. A deep frown creased her forehead and she was mumbling something, though I couldn't quite hear what. Her skin glistened with sweat. All in all, she looked pretty upset about something.  
Thinking I should calm her down, I tried putting a hand on her shoulder. Unfortunately her reaction was the opposite of what I had been hoping for. She hugged her knees tighter, her frown deepened, and she began to breath rapidly. I pulled my hand away quickly and simply stared at her. Just as I considered waking her up, her eyes shot opened and she sat bolt upright, hitting her head on the wall in the process. The blow didn't seem to phase her though, and she sat looking at me with an utterly terrified look on her face.  
'What the hell is the matter with her?' I thought while, after a few minutes, she still hadn't so much as blinked. "Maybe the knock on the head stunned her?' I was just about to tap her on the shoulder when, just as suddenly as she had woken up, she passed out and fell back onto her pillows.  
I considered this a good time to wake her up, so I reached out and gently shook her shoulder. The response was an unintelligible jumble of sounds. I tried again.  
"Nnng," she said. Well, at least it was closer to a real word. I tried one more time.  
"Hnn?" this time I took it as a question.  
"Are you alright?" I asked.  
No answer. I tried the mind-link. //Are you ok?//  
/./ Still nothing.  
After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided to try to reach her in her soul room. Even though she had never consciously gone there, she was still there.  
As I walked down the hall that connected our soul rooms, I noticed that the door at the other end was different. Instead of the usual wood, this door was made of some kind of stone. It was so black that it made the surrounding darkness look almost grey. The knob, which was also made of the weird stone, felt cold to the touch. In fact, it was freezing. It almost felt like ice, except it didn't melt.  
When I pushed open the door, I was hit with a blast of even colder air. Ignoring the cold, I stepped through the doorway into . . . a forest? 'What's going on here? I know you can make your soul room look however you want, but this is a bit weird.'  
I walked further into the room, gazing at my surroundings. Even though it was a forest, the trees were all dead. Also, I realized that the reason for the cold (or perhaps because of it) was that it was snowing. 'This is really really weird.' I thought once more.  
Abruptly I was brought back to the real world by someone tapping my shoulder. Waking up, I saw Michelle standing there in a fluffy white bathrobe with a worried expression on her face. Well, actually it was more like a slight frown, but I chose to think of it as an expression of worry.  
"Are you alright?" she asked, her frown lessening when she saw me move. "I woke up and saw that you were just sitting there with your eyes sort of glazed over."  
"I'm ok. What about you?" I questioned quickly.  
She seemed confused, but answered, "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"  
Explaining what had happened, I decided to leave out just exactly what her soul room looked like, only saying I had gone there to look for her.  
Her frown had returned by the end of my story. "Well, sometimes I do weird stuff in my sleep. Once I actually got in an argument with someone. And sometimes I sleepwalk, but. I don't know what that was about," she finally concluded. Then, "Wait, why did you come out of the ring in the first place?"  
"Like I said, you were having a nightmare. It was keeping me awake," I replied matter-of-factly.  
She raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't pursue the subject further. "Well, I'm ok now, so you can go back to _sleep_."  
"Are you sure?" I asked.  
"Do you even care?" her expression seemed to darken as she asked this.  
"Hey! No need to get hostile!" I snapped back, then disappeared into the ring before she could respond.  
  
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Yay, I'm done! Review if you want me to continue! (I do accept anonymous reviews) 


	2. In which we have a snowball fight!

I'm _so_ sorry I left you all hanging with one chapter! I got sick and completely forgot about the story. To make up for it, I'm writing a humorous one-shot for you. ^_^  
  
Thank you all so much for the reviews! I'm so happy! ~Replies~ Shadygoat2199: Thanks, I will keep the story going.  
  
bakura321: I'm glad my story is unique, I can't stand all the stories that are so alike you can't tell the difference. You actually BIT the doctor?? Wow, remind me to never try to give you a shot!  
  
KurianGirl: I'm glad you like my story! I've worked hard on making Bakura funny without putting him too much out of character. And don't worry, I won't have to explain the toilet to Bakura. ^_^ Btw, I really like your stories! Normally I'm reluctant to read fics with made-up characters, but you do really well.  
  
One more thing. If you feel the need to e-mail me, make sure you tell me where you got my e-mail!  
  
I'm sorry, I must say one more thing. You probably won't find me using much Japanese, and what I do use will most likely be very commonplace. Just so you know.  
  
*sees snoring people* Oh fine, you can read the story now! *** _blah_ = underlined ~blah~ = italics  
  
Chapter 2  
  
~Michelle's POV~  
"Baka, baka, baka," I muttered as I paced around my room. Whether I was saying it about Bakura or myself I wasn't sure, but the word seemed to fit the occasion well.  
'Why did I get mad at him?' I wondered as I searched for some sort of time-telling apparatus to see how late it was. After finally finding my watch I discovered that it was only 1:07 am. 'That would explain my grumpiness...' I thought, 'I guess I'd better go back to sleep.'  
  
Next Day(  
/Bakura, it's time to wake up./  
//Hmm?//  
/It's time to wake up. We have to go to school./  
//I don't 'go to school'// he finally grumbled.  
/Well, you go where I go, and I'm going to school. Come on, no one's awake yet, you can have some cereal or something if you want,/ I coaxed. Ryou told me that if Bakura was being difficult, all I had to do was bribe him with food.  
//Um, what kind of cereal do you have?// he seemed a bit more interested now.  
/I'm not going to list them all! Go look for yourself./ 'That ought to get him out,' I thought to myself.  
As if on cue, Bakura appeared in the middle of the room with a bright flash of light. He was wearing black sating pajamas with little ducks on them and looked like he'd been tossing and turning all night.  
Barely holding back hysterical laughter, I commented "Nice pajamas" before walking out of the room.  
"What?" he asked. Then, after realizing he was still in his sleepwear, "oh."  
He followed me into the kitchen a few minutes later, dressed in his usual clothes. I assumed he had gone back into the ring to change. "So, where do you keep the cereal?" he inquired, while opening random cupboards.  
"There," I pointed to a small cabinet by the door.  
"Hey, where's all the chocolate cereal?!" Bakura demanded after a few minutes.  
'This is going to be a long day...' I thought as I got up to help him.  
  
~Bakura's POV~  
"I can't believe there isn't any chocolate cereal!" I grumbled as I resigned myself to a bowl of 'Life'. "What an odd name for cereal. Does it make you live longer?" I questioned.  
Michelle gave me a weird look before saying, "You need to get out more."  
"Well it's kind of hard to go places with someone who looks just like me! People assume we're twins and start asking weird questions that I don't know how to answer."  
"Then maybe this is a good opportunity for you! You can go anywhere you want with me and people will, for the most part, leave us alone. Unless, of course, you want to go to a fancy restaurant or something like that. Then people will think we're going out," she finished, laughing.  
"In that case, I'll remember to avoid restaurants when I'm with you!" I replied, also starting to laugh. 'She's right, this is a good chance to go places without having to constantly answer questions.'  
"You should finish your cereal, someone is bound to wake up soon," she said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts.  
After putting my bowl in the sink, I walked back into Michelle's room. 'This would be a good time to read more of Michelle's notes..." I thought as I glanced over a stack of papers that seemed to be about something called 'schizophrenia'. Just as I was about to put the stack down I noticed something. There was one paper sticking out of the middle of the pile that had a familiar name on it. In fact, it had several familiar names on it. The paper was the start of a new set of notes that were all about the pharaoh and his fan club! I was about to sit down for some interesting reading when I heard a small sound like...uh oh. Michelle was standing in the doorway watching me intently. The sound I'd heard was the door creaking when she'd leaned against it.  
"Go ahead, read it. Tell me what you think! Though I doubt you'd find it very interesting. It's just a bunch of observations," she said when she saw me look up.  
"Um, ok," I mumbled, embarrassed at being caught. Looking to change the subject I asked, "So, what's our first class today?"  
"Journalism!"  
  
~Michelle's POV, at school~  
/Bakura, would you _please_ stop that?/ I begged. He had gotten bored and decided to amuse himself, which explained why he was wandering around in spirit-form poking random students and making them shiver.  
//But I'm having fun!// he whined.  
/I really don't care. Do something that doesn't involve other people./  
//What if I just poke you?//  
/Don't. You. Dare./ I growled. Being poked for the next 40 minutes did not sound like fun.  
//Fine, you're no fun anyway. I'm going to go explore the rest of the school.//  
At this announcement, I paled considerably. /No! Come back!/  
//Why should I? I don't think you can do anything to me right now,// he said, grinning evilly.  
/Watch me,/ I replied as I went up to the teacher's desk and grabbed the bathroom pass. Then, after signing out, I walked out into the hall.  
//Hey, where are you going? You can't do that!// Bakura protested as he followed me out of the classroom.  
/I believe I just did,/ I said, smirking. /Now, I need to have a little talk with you./  
//Ooh, what are you going to? _Lecture_ me to death?// he asked mockingly.  
/Soul room. Now./ I growled through mentally gritted teeth.  
//I thought you said you've never been in your soul room!//  
/I'm pretty sure I can figure it out. Besides, we're going to your soul room, not mine,/ I said simply before disappearing and reappearing in a strange dark room.  
"Ha! I did it!" I exclaimed triumphantly to Bakura who had appeared next to me just seconds ago. I then proceeded to pin him to the wall. Or what I assumed was the wall. It may have been solid darkness, I'm not sure.  
  
I had one hand at his throat and the other over his heart, with my face just inches from his. "Why are you trying to get me in trouble?" I demanded. My voice was slow and steady, a dangerous tone of which I was very proud. Bakura almost looked intimidated.  
"You know, you are a very violent person," he said, avoiding the question.  
I simply pushed down harder on his throat. I could feel his heart speed up under my other hand.  
"Ack! Alright, I'll behave! Just stop choking me!" he yelled.  
"Will you behave all day?" I asked, releasing the pressure on his windpipe slightly.  
"How about until lunch?"  
I sighed "Fine" and let go of him completely.  
"You really are very violent. That usually indicates deeper emotional- "  
"Well violence seems to be the only thing you understand!" I cut him off.  
Bakura looked hurt, but didn't say anything else. Instead he glared at me while rubbing a sore spot on his neck where my ring had left a tiny cut.  
'Aw, poor Bakura,' I thought. 'I guess that wasn't really necessary.' "Oh don't look so grumpy, I didn't hurt you that badly," I said out loud. "I know! Why don't I make it up to you by taking you Christmas shopping this weekend?"  
He seemed to brighten at this. "Alright, but don't think this means I'm not still mad at you."  
"Fine, whatever," I replied before returning to the real world and walking back to class.  
Bakura stuck to his word and behaved through the rest of the class and most of the next one. (Though there was a close call when he was acting like he was about to attack the teacher and almost made me laugh.)  
  
~Bakura's POV~  
The bell rang and everyone got up to leave the class in a hurry. Except Michelle. She always seemed to take her time with life. Everything she did was very....deliberate. Once her things were in order she walked out of the class and into the hall. Several people said hello and she waved absently to them.  
'Why does she always act so distant?' I wondered as Michelle pulled things out of her locker. Suddenly I realized she was packing her backpack. //Where are we going?// I inquired.  
/Home,/ she replied simply.  
//I thought students had to stay at school for lunch!//  
/Not me. I take some classes at home as well as at school, which allows me to go home for lunch./ As she said this she finished packing her backpack and pulled on her coat. Slamming her locker shut, she started walking down the hall again.  
As she walked towards the doors the masses of students thinned, and then disappeared completely when the late-bell sounded.  
While she was signing out at what I assumed was the office, I appeared in spirit-form again. I had been in the ring for the trip through the halls because, as I learned this morning, several people walking through you at once is _not_ fun.  
Once Michelle had finished we walked out the front doors. I became solid as soon as we were outside, thankful for the full return of my senses.  
"Oh wow, look at the snow!" Michelle breathed, voice alight with wonder.  
It was indeed snowing. Great white crystals tumbled silently from the slate clouds above, gathering delicately on any surface that was patient enough to allow it. Snow is probably one of the only things I'll ever enjoy during the winter season. It's beautiful, captivating.  
I became aware that I had been staring at the falling crystals when something hard and _cold_ hit the back of my head, jarring me out of my trance. I whipped around to see Michelle standing a few feet away, laughing like a loon. In a rush I realized what had happened. I'd been hit by a snowball.  
  
~Michelle's POV~  
The moment Bakura saw the snow he stopped and stared at it with a sort of pensive look on his face. After about a minute he still hadn't moved so I waved my hand in front of his face. Nothing  
'This could be fun,' I thought as I tested the snow to see if it was good for snowballs. 'Very fun.' Finding the snow was perfect, I formed a snowball and took aim.  
At first I wasn't sure if Bakura even noticed his head was covered with snow, but after a few seconds he whirled around, searching for the source of his discomfort. The instant he looked at me I began to laugh insanely.  
  
~General POV~  
Bakura slowly reached up to brush the snow out of his hair, but only managed to dump more of the fluffy stuff down the back of his shirt. He hardly noticed, though, as he was forming a plan.  
Michelle had been in enough snowball fights to recognize planning when she saw it, and Bakura was definitely planning. She tensed, ready to spring behind the tree that was a mere yard and a half to her right. She had stopped laughing and now wore a mask of complete calm.  
Bakura, noticing Michelle's actions, also tensed. He knew someone would have to make the first move.  
Two snowball fight champions stood at the ready, prepared to let fly at any second. The tension was so nearly tangible that you'd think it would be more than enough to shield either from a snowball.  
Then, with dizzying speed, both jumped from their suspended state into motion. Michelle dashed for the tree, scooping up snow to form a second missile as she went, while Bakura threw snowballs as fast as he could make them.  
Once Michelle made it behind the tree, she turned her attention to the ice ball in her hands, making sure it was packed as tightly as possible. 'This one will sting,' she thought, smiling, as she quickly made a normal snowball and hurled it at Bakura so he wouldn't get suspicious. It didn't hit him, but she hadn't intended it to.  
//Why are you ~hiding~?// Bakura taunted. If he could get Michelle angry she wouldn't think straight. Then Bakura would have the advantage. She didn't respond though. Just as well, seeing as Bakura was also using a tree as a shield.  
After fifteen minutes neither had moved. Both were hurling snowballs, neither had scored a hit, and both were running out of snow. Pretty soon someone would be trapped without a weapon. Then the real war would start.  
Bakura looked around and realized he was dangerously low on snow. Beginning to get worried, he tried to see how much snow Michelle had left. He nearly got a face full of snow for his trouble.  
Michelle's snow was also very nearly gone, but she still hadn't used her secret weapon. Deciding it was time to start the final battle, she stepped out from the patch of trees and into the open where the last of the snow was.  
Seeing Michelle walk out, Bakura knew she was out of snow too. As he strode out face her, he hid his last snowball behind his back.  
Both stood waiting, again, for their opponent to make a move. Suddenly Michelle shot the ice ball at Bakura. Hit square in the chest, he uttered a muffled "oof" and stumbled backwards. But instead of falling as Michelle had expected him to, he sprang forward, eyes glinting evilly, and hurled his hidden snowball.  
Michelle was hit directly in the face. Her vision blurred and she fell backwards into a snowdrift. When her line of sight finally cleared, she found she was staring up at the sky. Michelle was also annoyed to find that she was shivering violently and that snow had started to collect on top of her.  
Sitting up quickly, she discovered a smirking Bakura sitting right in front of her. "Ugh. How long did you let me lay there?"  
"I don't know, about ten minutes. I was about to drag you home," Bakura said, seemingly unconcerned.  
"Don't do me any favors," she spat. Trying to stand up, she swayed woozily. This time Michelle thought she saw a look of worry pass over Bakura's face, but he covered it too quickly for her to be sure.  
Bakura, seeing Michelle was about to fall over again, thought, 'Maybe I shouldn't have left her in the snow for that long...' but quickly smothered his worry seconds later. Instead, he stood up and caught Michelle's arm in a firm grip to steady her. She frowned but accepted the help without complaint.  
They walked in silence for a few minutes until Bakura said, "I guess I won."  
Michelle laughed, "Yeah right! I hit you twice and you only hit me once. Besides, you cheated."  
Bakura snorted derisively, "And you didn't cheat? I don't remember saying ice balls were allowed. Also, while it's true you hit me twice, I knocked you out. I'd say that's a win."  
And they walked the rest of the way arguing.  
When they reached the house, Michelle could tell Bakura was about to go back into the ring. "You don't have to go. No one's home today."  
He looked at her like he was going to say something, but was prevented from doing so as he broke into a hysterical fit laughter.  
Michelle, confused, asked, "What?"  
Bakura could barely speak, "You- you're-" he stopped for a minute to try and catch his breath. Finally, "You're getting a black eye!"  
Once this remark registered in her mind, Michelle tore into the house and ran to the first mirror she could find. There she saw that, slowly but surely, a dark bruise was forming under her left eye.  
"Damn it Bakura! You are SO going to pay for this!" she shouted as Bakura, once again, broke into a mad fit of giggling. *** All done! Leave lots of reviews! 


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